


The Crossroads

by battywritesfics



Series: The Crossroads [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst, Felix is a runaway :(, Felix learns the meaning of friendship, Fluff and Humor, Han and Minho are in a pre-established relationship, Happy Ending, I just needed more soft Chanlix in my life, I'm terrible at tagging i'm so sorry, M/M, Members are not in a group AU, Mild Language, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slice of Life, So i guess a little, this is entirely self indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24951130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/battywritesfics/pseuds/battywritesfics
Summary: Felix runs away from home to find himself, only to wind up in the charming, small town of Crossroads. Just when he thinks things are at it's worst, he's taken in by a couple running a flower shop to get him back on his feet, and possibly help him out with the crush he's gained on the cute boy running the local Cafe, Chan.(AKA This is a super cheesy and fluffy au fic where Felix learns the meaning of friendship and I write lots of self indulgent, awkward Chanlix.)This story is still ongoing and is updated as often as possible!!
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Series: The Crossroads [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1806091
Comments: 19
Kudos: 73





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for clicking on my fic! This is my first one and I plan on updating as often as I can between work! I'll have the rest of my notes at the end~

Felix’s eyes opened suddenly as the bus hit yet another pothole in the road straight on. _‘Can this person even drive?’_ He thought to himself as he sat up from his slouched position to look out the window. _‘I wonder how long I’ve been asleep…’_

He watched as the trees passed by his window, the bright green leaves zooming by far too quickly for him to truly appreciate the beauty of Spring. He shifts his gaze around the bus, it was completely empty, save for him and the driver. Honestly it was for the best, it’s been a few days since he’s had a proper bath, and he looked like a mess. Felix honestly lost count of how many days it’s been since he ran away from his hometown, only carrying a small backpack of necessities and some cash he saved up ahead of time. His funds were running pretty low though, he noted as he picked through his dangerously light wallet. _‘I might have to find a small job in the next town and make some quick cash…’_

The drive through the countryside goes on for a while longer, and Felix kills time counting the different colored cars that drive past. He isn’t really sure what made him fully decide to run away, he always tells himself something different. He thought that it was the harsh environment, or maybe just a need for a change of scenery, but in reality he knew he belonged somewhere else. He never felt like he fit in with the rest of the people in his city, the everyday grind seeming more of a burden than a lifestyle really drove into him with age. He wanted to belong somewhere, to have a reason to wake up every morning, and he planned on finding where or what that was, no matter the cost.

Of course, that was before he was down to about $5 in cash in the middle of nowhere.

“Alright kid, this is the last stop!” The driver shouts, trying to gather the attention of the tired boy in the back of the bus. Felix looks up and around to see that the bus has indeed stopped, and unsurprisingly, there isn’t a person in sight.

Felix doesn't respond to the driver, simply picking up his belongings and slowly making his way to the front of the bus. As he exits, the driver gives him one last glare and mumbles to himself as he shuts the door of the bus and drives off.

Felix coughs as the bus drives away, kicking up the dirt from the road in its wake.

_‘Well, what now?’_

Felix looks around at his surroundings, the bus stop looks like it hasn’t been used in decades, covered in flower petals and dirt as well as overgrown vines. In the distance down the road however, he spots a sign that reads, ‘Welcome to Crossroads!’

He snorts, _‘What an odd name.’_ But nonetheless, he dusts off his clothes the best he can, and begins to trot down the dirt road toward the town. As he made his way, soon the trees cleared, and Felix’s eyes widened as the town came into view.

“Woah.”

A rather small town rested at the bottom of the hill, plenty of small shops, a church, a library, and a fairly large park all rested in the center. Around it were a few dispersed neighborhoods, and past the entire town was a large river, splitting into two as it went farther out. Everything was built neatly, but still old enough to have that rustic charm that small towns seem to be known for. But what stood out the most was a giant clock tower in the center of town, much higher than the rest of the buildings. It looked much older than the rest of the town, but still well maintained and elegant. The view was breathtaking, and for a moment Felix just stood still on the road, taking it in. 

_‘The city never had a view quite like this…’_

He swallowed thickly once he came back to his senses, _‘Maybe this is a good place to stay for a while, surely nobody will know me this far from home…?’_ He kept his eyes locked on the town below, he didn’t know what it was at the time, but something about it felt like home. More than his original home ever did.

 _‘Or maybe I’m just hungry.’_ Felix pouted as his stomach growled a little too loudly, _‘Yeah… It’s just hunger. I’ll stay here to make some cash and move on.’ ___

____

Prologue End

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I stated before, this is my first fic, so feel free to comment with any constructive criticism or ideas you might have, I have quite a few ideas lined up, and I hope you stick with me! I have no idea how many chapters this is going to be either;; This is written all in good fun, so please don't take anything too seriously haha. That's all for now, and remember: Stray Kids everywhere all around the world, you make Stray Kids stay.


	2. A Stranger In Town

Felix took his time walking down the hill, taking in the sights of the blooming flowers and the smell of freshly cut grass that lingered in the air. The midday sun caressed his skin warmly, but the cool spring breeze kept the temperature completely perfect. It was the best day for a walk, and under different circumstances, he might have just sat on that hill for hours and just watched the clouds go by. 

But his stomach was still growling. He wasn’t sure of the last time he ate a full meal. He had to cut down on how much he was spending to make sure his cash lasted as much as possible, and he was completely out of all of the backup snacks he had packed ahead of time. 

As he entered the town, he walked down a few blocks, passing some small neighborhoods and a handful of people. None of them really seemed to mind his presence, or even notice him at all. The ones that did gave him a small smile and nod, and Felix nervously nodded back and trotted on his way. Considering that he was a runaway, he still wasn’t exactly fond of strangers. He was still young after all, and you never really know what could happen to people like him travelling alone.

As Felix continued to make his way through the town, he took a pause as he reached a downtown street labeled Ninth Street. This one wasn't residential, and seemed to have a lot of shops and restaurants, perfect for what he was looking for. 

He turned to walk down the cracked sidewalk, passing by a handful of shops before coming to a halt in front of a small and cute cafe. The smell of freshly baked bread and coffee seeped through the cracked windows, and were more than enough to entice Felix to go in. Unfortunately, as he reached for the door, he spotted the sign on the glass that read: ‘Closed on Sundays!’

Felix huffed to himself, holding his still growling stomach, “Guess I’ll have to find food somewhere else.”

“Ah, yeah sorry! We’re closed on Sundays to catch up on all our orders for the week.”

Felix jumped and shouted at the sudden comment, and in turn, so did the boy behind him.

“Oh i’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” The boy apologized, letting out a gentle laugh to lighten the mood, adjusting a small box of baking ingredients he was carrying on his shoulder.

Felix froze up at the sight of the boy in front of him. He was beautiful, his black hair slicked out of his face, emphasizing his large and welcoming eyes. He wore a black button up and a matching apron, as well as a small nametag on his chest that simply read ‘Chan’. He was coated in flour, though he didn’t seem to pay it any mind. Felix must have been staring for a little too long though, because it wasn't until the boy cleared his throat that he snapped out of his daze.

“N-no it’s okay, you just caught me off guard. Do you know where I could get some food? I kinda haven't eaten in awhile.” Felix took a few steps back, embarrassed of anyone hearing his rumbling stomach.

The boy looked him over, then looked off to the side, dramatically holding his chin in thought. He then snapped his fingers and looked back at Felix, a giant smile wide across his face. Felix took note of the dimples that formed on his cheeks,  _ ‘Cute.’ _

“You look like you’ve had a long day, why don’t you come inside and I’ll make you something? I just finished making some fresh bread, I can whip you up a sandwich if you want?”

Felix was quiet for a moment, he wasn’t one to blindly follow strangers, but he  _ was  _ starving. Plus, as a bonus, the baker was super cute. What did he have to lose?

“Y-yes…” Felix finally spoke up, “Thank you.”

The boy smiled brightly again, setting down his box of supplies for a moment to dig out his keys from his apron. 

“Go ahead and sit at the bar near the register, I’ll whip you up a sandwich, alright?” He opened the door, letting Felix walk in first before lifting up his box and following in behind him.

Felix took in a deep breath as he entered the cafe, even though they were closed for the day, the sweet smell of the freshly baked bread and coffee still floated in the air. The cafe was stunning, furnished with dark tables and chairs, surrounded by paintings and photos of the town and the people within it.

He slowly walked over to the stool he was told to sit at, taking in the view of the Cafe as the baker carried his box behind the counter and into the back room. Felix could hear him talking to somebody, he could only assume it was another staff member, before he reentered the room with a croissant and some different sandwich toppings.

“Sorry for the wait!” He chimed up, placing down the ingredients on the counter separating the two, “All my usual ingredients are put away, I had to dig them out.”

“Ah, it’s no big deal.” Felix waved his hand, trying his best to avoid eye contact with him, “If you don’t mind me asking, how much will this cost? I don’t have a lot of money-”

“No, no.” The baker cut him off with the wave of his hand, happily working away on building the sandwich in front of him, “The cafe is closed today. I invited you in here as a guest, that’s all. No need to pay me.” He only looked up for a moment to shoot a small wink, and then went back to making the food.

Felix was grateful he didn’t look too long, because he was sure his face was completely red.

_ ‘Get yourself together, Felix. You’re only here for a few days and then you need to go.’ _

“All done!” the baker broke the silence, sliding the sandwich over to Felix, “Eat up! I’ll grab you some water.”

Felix didn’t take the time to appreciate the artistry of the sandwich, opting instead to eat it as quickly as possible, and  _ damn  _ did it taste amazing. It could’ve been because he hadn’t eaten in awhile, but he could taste the hard work put into the food clear as day. He was already almost done by the time the baker returned with a bottle of water.

“Woah! I knew you looked hungry, but be careful! We don’t need you choking now, do we?” He placed the water in front of Felix before leaning against the back wall, crossing his arms in pride, “What’s your name anyways? I’ve never seen you around here before.”

Felix swallowed the last of his sandwich, and took a long drink of water before answering, earning a small chuckle from the baker.

“I’m Felix. I just arrived here about an hour ago actually.” He wiped his face with a small napkin, shocked by the amount of dirt that actually came off of his face.

“Felix, huh… That’s a nice name. My name’s Chan, if you didn’t notice.” He laughed, tapping his nametag.

Felix froze up again, why did his name sound different coming from him? His voice was so sweet, so calming, it was almost too much to take.  _ ‘Focus Felix! You need to find a job!!’ _

“Do you know where I could get a small job?” Felix managed to spit out, startling Chan by the shift in conversation.

“A job? Honestly we don’t get new people here too often, so most shops are run by residents of the town here.” Chan paced slightly, tapping his chin, “I know one shop that’s hiring, but honestly it’s more for somebody permanent.”

Before Felix could give any sort of response, there was a loud and frantic knock on the cafe door, making the both of them jump up. As they walked toward the door, Felix could see a small male figure standing at the front, he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, as well as a green apron that was coated in dirt. Upon seeing him Chan just sighed and laughed.

“Ah, speak of the devil.”

Chan unlocked the door, and the boy shuffled in. He looked exhausted, yet still seemed to radiate a strong energetic vibe around him.

“Hey, Chan, sorry to bother you but could you stop by the shop after your shift today to help me wrap some of the orders over at my place?” He looked up at Chan with sparkling, doe-like eyes, “I’ll pay you for it just like last time, but Minho and I can barely keep up on our own any more.”

“Ahh, about that.” Chan smirked, turning his gaze to Felix, “Jisung, this guy’s name is Felix, and he’s new to town and looking for work.”

The boy ran up to Felix, grabbing him by both shoulders and now giving him the sparkly-eye treatment, “You need a job?! Please say yes.”

Felix shook his head quickly. What was happening? Was he being thrown under the bus to do work for this guy? Or was this Chan’s way of helping him? He just glanced up at Chan, who nodded gently, as if to say, “Go ahead, do it.”

“I, yeah, I guess I do need a job.”

“Perfect! You’re hired!” Jisung grabbed Felix’s hand and practically dragged him out of the cafe, “Thanks Chan, I’ll see you later!”

Felix turned to see Chan waving them goodbye before being pulled out across the street to another small shop. So much was going through his mind. He had only been in this town for a little while and already he was dragged into a job and possibly gained a small crush on the local cafe boy. The warm spring air felt nice though, and as he got closer to the new shop, he heard the chime of the clocktower begin to ring out in the distance. It was loud, and designed to tell the townsfolk that noon had arrived, but to Felix, it sounded like a greeting; a hello; a welcome home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, again! Feel free to comment if there's anything you want to see from this series as I continue to introduce people. I post my updates on my twitter @battyloveskpop if you want to know when I post new chapters~ That's all for now!


	3. Sunshine

“Here we are!” Jisung turned to face the freckled boy proudly, “My pride and joy, Sunshine Floral!”

Felix looked over the shop, it was made of brick, and surrounded by flowers of all different shapes and colors. Inside the giant shop window, he could see another man working inside on a bouquet. He looked focused, and paid no mind to the two of them standing outside.

“You run a flower shop?” Felix asked, reaching out to gently hold one of the tulips that stood a little higher than the others.

“Sure do! Me and my boyfriend have been running this place for a little over a year now, but we’ve been getting a little too popular, and we can’t really keep up with orders anymore. Chan usually helps us, but I feel kinda bad overworking him like that.” Jisung laughed nervously as he opened the door, “Go ahead, guest first.”

Felix nodded, walking into the shop, earning a small, “Welcome to Sunshine.” From the man in the back, still not looking up from his work.

“Hi babe, I’m back!” Jisung skipped over and planned a kiss on the boy’s cheek, “And I brought help!” 

After what seemed like forever, the boy looked up at Felix, his sharp gaze staring into Felix’s soul was intimidating for only a brief moment before it was replaced with a soft smile, “You must be new to town, glad you came to help. I was worried I was going to have to do all these orders myself.”

Jisung pouted, sticking out his bottom lip, “I've been helping! Do you know how hard it is to keep up with all the orders for these flowers? Wedding season is so hard, honestly.”

They continued bickering while Felix took the chance to look around, the shop was small and clean. A radio was playing a local station softly in the background, and the big shop windows let in a lot of light. _“Sunshine… A fitting name for a shop like this…’_ Felix thought to himself as he wandered around, gazing at all the different flowers spread around the room.

“Ah, Felix!” Jisung called out, retaining his attention, “Come over here, let me introduce you.”

Felix made his way to the others, and Jisung spoke up once again, “This is the other owner of Sunshine, and my boyfriend, Minho. He’s a little scary, but he’s cool I swear.”

Minho swatted at the bubbly boy for the cruel comment, but he smiled and shook Felix’s hand nonetheless, “Hello, I hear your name is Felix? It’s really nice to get a fresh face around here, I get tired of seeing the same people every day.”

“Thanks, but…” Felix scratched the back of his head, “I really wasn’t planning on staying in this town for too long.”

“Why not?!” Jisung shouted, catching Felix off guard, “I thought you said you needed a job?”

“I do, trust me I do, but I just need to make some money until I have enough to get to the next town, that's all.” Felix huffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Are you going somewhere specific?” Minho inquired, “Or are you running blindly?”

Felix turned his head off to the side to look at the ground, “Honestly I don’t think that’s anyone's business but my own. If you’re worried about me being a criminal, I can promise you that I’m not, but you’ll have to take my word for that.”

Jisung and Minho shared a look for a moment, and then both shrugged in unison as Jisung spoke up again, “Look, Felix, we don’t know what you’re going through, we just met after all. But, we’d love to let you work here until you can get back on your feet again.”

Felix perked back up and looked back at the two of them, “Seriously? You’ll still let me stay and work?”

“Yeah, like I said, we could use the help.” Jisung stated bluntly, “Plus, Chan sent you to me. He’s always been pretty good at spotting strays.”

Felix tried to stop the burning feeling in his cheeks from rising back up at the mention of Chan’s name. He only met him for a short moment, but to Felix it felt like a century. He wanted to know everything about him, yet also forget he ever existed. He wasn’t really sure what these curious feelings were, but he decided it was best to forget about it for now.

Minho looked the freckled boy over, noting his dirt covered clothing and torn backpack in his arms, “Do you have a place to stay, Felix?”

“Um… no, no I don’t actually.” Felix replied, the past few weeks he opted for just sleeping on bus rides, or sneaking naps in secluded parks where he felt safest, he can’t remember the last time he slept on a proper bed.

Jisung hopped happily, “Finally, the attic room can be put to use! Come on Felix, follow me!” Jisung didn’t wait for a response, skipping behind the counter and up a small wooden staircase behind it.

Felix followed, leaving Minho to continue working on his flower arrangement in peace. As he made it up the stairs, Jisung excitedly opened a door that led into a fairly large attic room. It had a twin bed, a wardrobe, a small bedside table, and a medium sized television that sat on the floor. There was also a small kitchen area, and against the far wall was a giant window with white curtains currently covering it.

“We always had this room up here, but we ended up never using it because it was too small for the two of us.” Jisung laughed, “Not to mention all of Minho’s cats too. We mainly just had it here as a backup. But you are more than welcome to stay here while you work here!”

Felix hadn’t moved from his spot in the doorway, he just couldn’t believe it. To most people, this room would be less than impressive, but to Felix, this was like looking at a five star hotel for free. The world is cruel and unkind, especially to runaways like him, he had no idea how to accept this amount of kindness. He didn’t seem to notice how badly this whole trip had taken a toll on him, because soon after, tears began to fall from his eyes without him even noticing.

Jisung hurried over to him, taking his bag from his hands and placing it on the floor, “Hey, hey, don’t cry! I really hope we didn’t offend you in any way!”

“No, don’t worry.” Felix tried to laugh it off, wiping away the flowing tears with his sleeve, “I’ve just never quite felt this welcome anywhere before.”

Jisung smiled, “Well don’t worry about that any more, no matter where you go, you’re always welcome at Crossroads with us.”

That did it. Felix tried to hold it in, but he still fell to the ground sobbing almost instantly. Jisung panicked for a moment, calling out for Minho to come upstairs, before leaning down next to him and rubbing his back as he let out weeks worth of pent up emotions.

* * *

He’s not really sure how long the three of them sat in that room. Felix was astonished that two complete strangers were willing to hear him out on his journey so far, and were also willing to help him out. They treated him with so much love, despite never knowing him prior, and he couldn’t bear to just leave them behind so soon.

He decided it was best to give Crossroads a chance, besides, if it went south, he could always just hop on the bus and leave again. He was sure he was far enough from his hometown to not be recognized, and the people here seemed nice enough.

And then there was Chan.

Why couldn’t he stop thinking about that baker? All he did was make him food, and talk to him in that gentle, calm voice. His giggles lingered in Felix’s mind, and his smile was imprinted on his memory. Felix tried to ignore it, but he knew he had a crush. A bad one. No matter how much he tried to block him out of his brain, he kept creeping back into his thoughts.

Minho and Jisung left Felix upstairs to get cleaned up, his room had a small bathroom with a shower, and they managed to find him a white hoodie and shorts in his size that he could wear while his old clothing got washed. As Felix stepped back out into his new room, he decided to open up the curtains on his window to see what kind of view he had.

As he threw them open, he could see the street below, as well as the cafe across the way. It looked completely closed now, the lights inside were turned off, and there wasn’t any smoke coming from the chimney. Past the cafe, Felix could see the park, and a small part of the Crossroads river in the distance. The sun was starting to go down, and the view was beautiful, the sun’s warm rays dancing and sparkling on the distant river water.

“Felix! The food is here! Come on down whenever you’re ready!” Jisung called from the floor below.

Jisung told him earlier that he’d order sushi for the three of them tonight, and they’d eat together at the shop to get to know him better. Felix smiled at the thought. ‘ _Friends. Maybe this is the town I was looking for after all…’_

Felix turned to make his way downstairs, looking back out the window one last time to admire the orange and purple sky. Maybe he was destined to wind up here in this town, with these people, or maybe he was just being dramatic again. The sunset tended to make him pretty sappy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blueprint MV dropped yesterday and my heart couldn't handle seeing Felix looking so happy staring at the sunset. ;v; Anyways, thanks for reading as always!!


	4. Cafe '97

Felix’s eyes fluttered open as sunlight shined through the curtains, signalling that morning had arrived. He sat up and stretched, feeling well rested for the first time in ages. When he glanced over at his bedside table, he saw his old clothing completely washed and folded, along with a small note that read,  _ ‘All clean for you! :^) P.S when you see this, get downstairs, we need your help!!’ _

He grabbed the clothing, and went off to clean up and get dressed. Once he was done, he made his way down the stairs and saw that Minho and Jisung were already up and in uniform, scurrying around the shop gathering different flowers and vases. When Jisung spotted Felix, he immediately ran over, shoving four vases into his arms.

“Morning, sleeping beauty, welcome to your first day on the job! Help Minho get these arrangements done before our client arrives!” 

Felix stumbled, nearly dropping one of the vases before quietly asking, “Why the rush? When is the client arriving?”

Jisung hopped onto a stool next to Minho, not looking up as he started to build an arrangement of white flowers, “About an hour. Consider this crash course training.”

Felix sighed heavily, placing the vases on the counter and taking a seat next to the couple and following their lead on making all of the arrangements.  _ ‘I really got myself into some deep stuff this time, huh? Never expected to be working in a flower shop.’ _

* * *

  
  


The three boys sighed heavily as the client exited the store with the last of the flower arrangements in hand. It was a close call, but they were all done with the work about five minutes before they had opened up the shop for the day. Felix was exhausted already, and it was only 9 AM. 

“Let’s never wait to do that much work last minute again.” Minho whined, “That was almost too much.”

“Yeah, agreed.” Jisung nodded, “I was so full from sushi last night, I wasn’t thinking about the consequences of delaying all that work.”

“Is this normal for you two?” Felix asked, he wasn’t fond of all this stress so early in the morning.

“Not really,” Minho walked over to the corner of the room, grabbing a broom to sweep the stray flower petals off of the floor, “Only during holiday seasons usually. But we are having a few weddings in the area, and we’re the only florist for miles.”

Felix nodded walking over to grab another broom to help, but stopped in his tracks by the front window. He looked out just in time to see Chan in the cafe across the way, flipping the little sign on the door to say ‘Open for Business’. He lingered there for a moment, before turning around and disappearing back into the cafe. Felix looked above the door, only just now noticing the name of the place itself.

“Cafe ‘97…”

Jisung walked over to where Felix was standing, first looking at the freckled boy, and then the cafe, “Yeah, that’s the place you were at yesterday. Did you want some breakfast from there? I was actually craving an Americano myself.”

Felix broke out of his daze again and turned to look at Jisung, trying to hide his very visible fear of talking to Chan again, “Oh, n-no i’m fine. I don’t really eat breakfast much…”

Then his stomach growled.  _ ‘Curse my body’s terrible timing.’ _

Jisung just laughed, “No need to lie, Felix. I’ll grab you some cash.” Before Felix could put up any argument, Jisung ran off (he seemed to be good at that.) He looked back at the cafe, clasping his hands together over and over in an attempt to calm himself down.

_ ‘It’s just a guy, Felix. Someone like him wouldn’t care about you anyway.’ _

Jisung walked back with a small handful of cash, handing it over to Felix, “Minho and I would like some Americanos, but you go ahead and order whatever you want, there should be enough cash here to cover just about any item on the menu.”

“Thank you…” Felix took the cash, glancing back at the cafe, “Does anybody else work at the cafe? Besides Chan?”

Jisung tapped his chin for a moment, “As far as I know, it’s only Chan and one other baker named Jeongin. The cafe never gets too busy, so he never really needed more people.”

“A-ah… okay then…” Felix nodded, there was no hope then, he wasn’t going to avoid running into Chan again. Not as long as he stayed in this town.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of Chan?!” Jisung exclaimed, his big eyes suddenly looking even larger, “I don’t know what your first impression of him was, but I promise he’s super cool and nice! He’d never hurt a fly!”

Felix laughed, fighting the blush that was starting to creep up his cheeks yet again, “No, I’m not scared of him, don’t worry. I’ll be right back with the coffee.”

Jisung looked confused for a moment, but decided to leave it for later, nodding at Felix as he headed out the front door.

It was still early morning, and the sun was still low in the sky. It was a nice and cool temperature, and Felix hummed happily as the smell of the bakery hit his nose once again. His hand lingered over the handle of the cafe for a short moment before he pulled it open and walked inside.

There weren’t many people inside, just a few teens drinking coffee at a table in the corner, and another girl in the middle who seemed to be intently studying. In the back of the room, Chan stood behind the counter, wiping it down with a cloth. He looked up as the bell on the door chimed at Felix’s arrival, and he gave a soft smile and a wave in his direction. He looked as handsome as he did the day before, his expression fixed in concentration as he hummed along to the tune playing over the radio.

_ ‘You can do this, Felix. You just need to order breakfast. That’s all.’ _

Felix slowly walked up to the counter, standing next to the stool he sat the previous afternoon. Chan placed his cloth over his shoulder, dusting off his apron before fully greeting him, “Well, well! Didn’t think I’d see you again so soon. Did you get some rest?”

“Yes, I did, thank you.”  _ Don’t blush Felix, don’t blush, don’t blush,  _ “Um… I’d like to place an order…”

Chan’s eyes widened, “Oh! Alright then. Jisung must have sent you.” Chan grinned as he pulled out a small notepad and a little pen with a small doodle of a wolf on the end of it, “I’m assuming the lovebirds want their usual Americano each, so what can I get you, Felix?”

Felix glanced up at the chalkboard menu on the wall, everything sounded so good, but the cute baker staring at him was making it far too difficult to think. He lost his appetite just being in the same room as him, and he could feel that he was losing the battle of hiding his embarrassment. 

“Not to brag,” Chan cut in, “But I just finished making some banana nut muffins. They’re delicious and taste great with a cup of coffee!” He put his hands on his hips as he said it, the pride in his baking was clear as day.

Felix’s gaze shot down to the counter, “I’ll take that then, sounds good.” He knew his face was red now, all he could do was hope that Chan didn’t notice.

“Perfect! Go ahead and take a seat here at the bar, it should only take a few minutes.” Chan hurried off to making the coffees, leaving Felix to sit in the stool staring at his legs.

Felix has never really been the extremely social type, but he wasn’t particularly shy around strangers either. He never really felt an emotional connection to anybody, and floated from town to town with ease. He heard stories of people experiencing love at first sight, but he never really believed that it could actually happen, or that it would ever actually work out, but this feeling… He was beginning to question himself. He tapped his hands on the counter in thought, he’s never felt this way before, and he’s not sure if he liked it either.

‘ _ It can’t be love’  _ Felix told himself,  _ ‘You barely know him, you don’t even know if he’s in a relationship, or even if he’s interested in guys in the first place.’ _

Felix didn’t even notice that Chan had returned with his order until he felt a tap on the back of his hand. His face quickly shot up, accidentally locking eyes with the black-haired boy.

“Hey, are you okay?” Chan leaned forward slightly on the counter, “You look pale. Are you feeling alright?” He reached out to place his hand on Felix’s forehead, but Felix hopped out of his chair too fast for him to succeed. 

“I feel fine!” Felix blurted out, pulling the fakest smile he could manage, despite wanting to scream at the butterflies in his stomach, “Thank you for asking though!”

“O-of course…” Chan spoke, a look of concern still written all over his face, “Well, here’s your order. Just take it easy, okay? Don’t let those two work you ragged now.”

“I’ll be careful.” Felix managed to spit out, quickly paying for the food and shuffling to the door. He didn’t look back, but he could practically feel Chan’s eyes on him as he made his way out. He was so focused on the feeling in fact, that he didn’t notice Jisung standing outside the cafe until he nearly ran him over.

“Jisung!” Felix jumped, nearly dropping the drinks in his arms, “Why are people always trying to scare me out here?!”

Jisung ignored him, instead glancing over his shoulder at Chan through the window. He was now talking to another customer, completely oblivious to the two of them outside. 

“So  _ that’s  _ why you were so shy to come over here~” Jisung smirked, turning his gaze back to Felix.

Felix froze, and he felt his face flush yet again.  _ ‘There is no way he knows. Am I really that obvious?’ _

Jisung laughed, grabbing the americanos from Felix, “That crush must be pretty bad , you could barely even look at him.”

“I don’t have a crush on him!” Felix attempted to defend himself, but to no avail. Jisung simply nodded and continued on.

“He’s cool, he’s attractive,” the florist stated bluntly, “plus, he’s single~” He gave Felix a nudge with his elbow, but he was only met with a dagger-like glare.

“I don’t need a relationship  _ or  _ a matchmaker, Jisung.” Felix huffed, stomping off back toward Sunshine, “I’m a mess of a person as it is, nobody needs this in their love life.”

Jisung followed the best he could, finding it difficult to match Felix’s long strides, “So you’re admitting that you  _ do  _ have a crush on Chan?”

Felix groaned loudly, closing his eyes for a moment before turning back to the nosy, starry eyed boy, “It’s just a little temporary crush. I’ll be over it within a week. Now can we  _ please  _ stop talking about it?”

The confession was all he needed; Jisung squealed at his response, and immediately started rambling, “I knew it!! I love hearing relationships start like this! You were completely new in town, completely unsure of where you were going in life, and then  _ BOOM _ , you see Chan and it’s love at first sight! It’s almost like a movie!”

As he spoke, Jisung put his entire soul into it, acting out each role and changing his voice to match. Felix wanted to be mad, to yell at him to stop teasing, but his passion for cheesy romance was weirdly admirable.  _ ‘I wish I could be quite as confident in my beliefs as he is.’ _

They heard a bell jingle, and they turned to see that Minho was standing in the doorway to Sunshine, “Is there a reason you two are screaming outside the shop and letting my americano get cold?”

“Babe!” Jisung shouted out excitedly, and then switched to a whisper, “Felix has a huge crush on Chan.”

Felix sighed, looking up toward the sky, he was going to hear about this for a long time. He could feel it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to drop a comment if you like this story so far! I have a lot of work coming up the next few days, but I will still try to update as frequently as possible for you all! Thanks for reading and have a lovely day!


	5. A Different Perspective

Once breakfast was eaten and out of the way, the couple took advantage of the quiet business day to properly train Felix on how to run the store and make proper flower arrangements. It didn’t take long for Felix to get the hang of it, in fact the duo was impressed by how well he caught on to color matching and common flower mixtures. _‘This is kind of nice,’_ Felix thought to himself, _‘Who knew flowers were so relaxing?’_

The training went on for the whole morning, save for the breaks when a few customers stopped in-between. Felix considered it a fairly productive day, except for Jisung’s constant prying over his admitted crush.

“So, you wanna tell me what has you swooning over Chan yet?” Jisung parted the flowers of Felix’s newest arrangement, attempting to look him in the eyes as he hid behind it.

“No. I don’t.” Felix ignored him, continuing to search out just the right flower to add to the vase, “My answer isn’t going to change no matter how many times you ask me.”

Jisung puffed his cheeks in a frown, spinning in his stool for a moment before slapping his hands on the counter and trying again, “Okay but what if I could help you?”

“I don’t need any help. I told you the last thing I need is a matchmaker, besides, you barely know anything about me. We just met yesterday.”

Jisung dramatically threw his arms over the counter, poking at Felix’s arms as he attempted to keep working, “But I’ve known Chan for like… Forever! Minho too! There’s so much we could do to help! Plus, I think I’ve gotten to know you pretty well so far!”

Felix finally looked up from his work, shoving the vase out of the way to look at Jisung directly, “Are you always like this the moment you find out someone has a crush?”

“Yeah, sort of.” Jisung sat up, biting his tongue for a minute before continuing, “Listen, I know I’m being annoying, but you have to hear me out.”

Felix rolled his eyes, then smirked as an idea suddenly crept into his mind, “Okay, I’ll tell you what. If my crush on Chan lasts for more than one whole week, we can have this conversation you want so badly.”

Jisung’s eyes lit up again, “And you’ll let me help you out?!”

“Y-yes…” Felix swallowed, _‘was this a mistake? No, no, you’ve got this. Getting over a small crush within a week is easy.’_

Jisung thought for a moment, then reached out his hand toward him, “Promise you will tell the truth, and shake on it, and then we have a deal.”

Felix just nodded, clasping Jisung’s hand and shaking. Felix’s hands were clammy, and he was sure the florist noticed, because he simply laughed and said, “Can’t wait to get to work in a week~”

* * *

  
  


The rest of the day went smoothly, Minho took over the training in order to relieve some of Felix’s built up stress and focus on his work. He learned all kinds of things he never knew about flowers, their meanings, and what events to use them for. He was tired though, and was happy to see that they were closing up shop when five o'clock came around.

Minho looked over at Felix, catching him staring out the window yet again, watching Chan close up his shop for the day as well. He smiled, but decided not to comment on it as he walked up to the freckled boy and clasped his shoulder, “You haven’t really explored the town yet, have you?”

Felix shook his head, “No, not really. You guys threw me into work the moment I got here.”

“That’s what you wanted though.” Minho shrugged, “Don’t blame us for giving you the job you asked for.”

Felix laughed, “You’re right, I’m sorry.” He looked up at the sky, it was a clear and beautiful afternoon, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to walk around town for a bit.”

The couple gave Felix a short description of the town layout, his payment for the day’s work, and a set of keys to the shop in case they were gone by the time he returned. After that, Felix headed on out, leaving the couple to finish the last bit of cleanup in the shop.

Upon his exit, Felix decided to walk down the street toward the park he saw from atop the hill the day before. On the way, he also noticed some shops he hadn't paid attention to previously. Two spaces down from Sunshine was a small tattoo parlor, it looked slightly run down, but still had the neon ‘OPEN’ sign blinking in the tinted window. Further down was a library, fairly large and beautiful, but didn’t look like very many people were inside. He also walked past what seemed to be a live music bar, a sushi restaurant, and a gym before he finally reached the park he was looking for.

It was late in the afternoon, and most of the townsfolk had gone home, save for a few kids that were messing around in the playground. Felix walked past them, opting to sit on one of the rocks near the river to watch the water. He found the gentle lapping of the water to be calming, the water glittering in the evening sun. He tried to spend time by the open water as often as he could, as it was almost meditative for him. In the distance, he could spot a flock of ducks paddling along the river current. It was a peaceful sight, and for just a moment, Felix forgot all of the troubles plaguing his mind.

“Hey, you’re sitting in my spot.”

Felix turned with a start, unaware of anybody approaching him. Again. “I’m starting to think they teach you all how to sneak up on people at the schools here.” He sighed, falling back down on the rock as he saw the culprit.

The speaker was a young man, around the same age as Felix, he had shoulder-length blonde hair tied half up in a bun. He wore baggy clothing, but still somehow carried an air of elegance. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just figured you were one of the usual punks that hang out here.” He took a seat in the grass next to Felix, not speaking for a few moments to just watch the water, “Are you new to town?”

“Yeah. I just got here yesterday.” Felix turned back toward the water, the ducks were farther out now, “My name’s Felix.”

The boy kept his eyes locked on the water, “My name’s Hyunjin.” He stayed silent for a few more minutes, an awkward silence growing between the two of them before he spoke up again, “Why’d you come here?”

Felix thought for a moment before answering, “It’s a long story really, but I didn’t really plan on going anywhere. I just wound up here. I hated my home city, so I left.”

Hyunjin smiled for a second, blowing air out of his nose at the simple response, “And that’s it? You just ran away from home for a reset?”

“Well, yeah.” Felix retorted, “Do I really need a proper reason? It’s my life, I wasn’t happy, so I left.”

Hyunjin sat back, leaning on his hands and letting out a small whistle, “Man, you are nuts. Minho told me a little bit about you, but I just had to talk to you myself.”

“You know Minho?” Felix asked.

“Of course,” the blonde sighed, “Like I said, I was raised here, I know everybody in this town. That’s why I want to leave, like you did. I’ve always wanted to do something crazy like that.”

Felix raised an eyebrow at him, “I wouldn’t recommend it. A month straight of bus hopping, sleeping in public places, and nearly starving wasn’t exactly a dream.”

“I know.” Hyunjin sat up, scratching the side of his head, “But anywhere would beat this tiny town. Everyone says that this place is a miracle, an ideal escape, but I was born here and I’m so sick of it.”

Felix laughed, probably harder than he should have, “You sound just like I did before I left home.”

The two of them talked for a long while. Felix shared stories on places he had visited during his journey, while Hyunjin listened intently, clinging onto every word like he was watching a movie. Felix was astounded by the boy, no matter what tragedy he told, or near-death experience he explained, Hyunjin kept his full focus on him. In return, Hyunjin talked about the town, only seeming to make Felix fall in love with it more. Before they knew it, they had been chatting for hours. They went on for so long in fact, that they almost didn’t notice the sun setting over the river.

“Oh! The sun’s going down already?” Hyunjin hopped up, quickly checking his watch to confirm the time, “I gotta head back to the shop before I get drilled for not helping clean up.”

“The shop?” Felix inquired, “Where do you work?”

“Ah, I must have forgotten to mention.” Hyunjin scratched his head again, “I work at the little sushi place on the corner of Ninth Street. It’s not the best job ever but it pays decently.”

“I’ll be sure to visit sometimes then.” Felix smiled, finally standing up from the rock he perched on, then wincing at the pain it gave his behind from sitting there so long.

“For sure! See you later, Felix.” Hyunjin walked off, waving him one final goodbye before exiting the park.

Felix turned back towards the river, the sun had completely gone down, but it was quickly replaced by all of the stars in the sky. It was a beautiful sight, and he was sure he could just lay under the stars and watch them all night, but decided against it as he made his way back to Sunshine. The walk back was quiet and dark, but short enough to not creep him out too much. When Felix reached the front door of Sunshine, he noticed that all of the lights had been shut off, save for a small one in the back.

_‘The other two must have gone home already. It’s getting late anyways.’_

Felix unlocked the door and walked in, closing it up behind him and making his way up to his room in the attic. Before he entered though, he noticed another note on his door. Felix smiled as he read it: ‘Goodnight, Lixie! See you tomorrow!! -Jisung and Minho’

_‘Lix… I think I can get used to that.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another day, another update! I hope you enjoyed the update, and please feel free to leave a comment or kudos if you did. It would mean a lot! That;s all I have for now so, have a nice day! :^)


	6. A Decision

The days seemed to fly by, and before Felix knew it, Sunday was back around again. His first week was coming to an end, but he was happy with it. He had completely gotten the hang of working at Sunshine, and the couple loved having him there. Felix enjoyed their company too; They always helped him out, and gave him encouragement whenever he needed it. They were always cracking jokes, and even when they seemed stressed they tried their best to keep smiles on their faces. It was a warm and welcoming environment, and with each passing day he realized more that he couldn’t leave this place behind.

Each morning so far, Jisung sent him over to Cafe ‘97 for morning coffee. In any other circumstance, Felix would’ve hated being the delivery boy every morning, but he never complained. Every day that he walked across the street to see Chan waiting behind the counter with his wide smile was just another good day for Felix. At first he had hoped that his crush would go away, but as the week went on, all he wanted to do was see Chan as often as he could without seeming weird. Felix felt himself grow more comfortable around the boy’s presence, and he found that their morning chats were turning out to be the highlight of his days. They never talked too much, mainly just the usual ‘How are you?’ and talks about the weather, but Felix was content with just that. It could stay just like this and he would be satisfied, or at least that’s what he told himself.

It was Sunday again already, and Felix silently moped to himself at the register, silently cursing Chan for closing the cafe on these days. Jisung was out of the shop making some deliveries to a few different houses in the area, and Minho had wandered into the back some time ago. The store was completely quiet today, the weather was lovely, and most people were spending their weekend outside in the warm sun.

Felix caught himself nearly falling asleep in his chair as Minho walked through the door behind him, “Hey, Felix. Come here for a second, I wanna show you something cool.” He was carrying a small bag, but it was tied shut, leaving Felix unable to see its contents.

Felix stood from his chair and stretched for a moment before following Minho into the back room and another door leading to the back entrance where they usually get their deliveries. 

“What’s up?” Felix began, but quickly went quiet as he heard the sounds of small taps and meowing from behind the door, “Are those cats?”

Minho nodded, opening the door to reveal 8 stray cats of all different shapes and colors sitting on the back steps, “It’s my little cat army. I try to leave food out for them every day, but I thought you’d want to meet them.”

Felix leaned down to be on the same level as them, and in turn, a few of them started rubbing along his legs, “You really gathered a lot of them, didn’t you?”

“Sure did.” Minho stated proudly, the cats’ calls getting louder as he opened up his bag, revealing that it was full of cat food. “They know they can get food here, so they come back with friends.”

Felix watched in silence as he poured the food into separate trays and placed them on the ground, amazed by how quickly the cats dropped silent as they ate. He was more amazed however, by the fact that they weren’t fighting over the food. All of the cats ate separately, and they all waited for each other to finish before starting to wander off.

“It’s amazing isn’t it?” Minho smiled, squatting next to Felix to pet one of the cats, “They never fight, and even though they look like they're from different places, they treat each other like a family.”

“Kinda like you guys with me…” Felix almost didn’t notice he had thought out loud, until he looked over at Minho who looked taken aback, “A-ah…” Felix stood up quickly, his freckled cheeks turning a light pink, “Sorry, I guess that was kinda cheesy…”

Minho stood up, waving his hand dismissively, “It really was, but don’t worry, if we didn’t like you we would’ve kicked you out already. You’re a good worker and an even better friend.”

Felix shuffled his feet, happy to hear the kind words, but still embarrassed for saying something so cheesy out loud. “Thanks. It’s nice to hear.”

“I’m baaaaack!!” the pair heard Jisung’s voice coming from the front of the store, “Is anybody even watching this store anymore?”

Felix and Minho picked up the empty food trays and made their way back to the front of the shop, closing the door behind them. Once they got back to the front, Jisung was already sitting down, tapping his fingers on the edge of the counter.

“Deliveries went okay?” Minho asked, leaning over to give the hyper boy a kiss on the top of his head.

“Yeah, everything went smooth.” Jisung hummed at the sudden affection, “Were you introducing Felix to all your kids out back?” 

Minho and Felix both laughed at the comment, but before he could answer, the front door chime rang, signalling a customer’s arrival. They all turned, faces lighting up as they saw that the customer was no other than Chan. Felix swallowed heavily, he was out of his usual cafe attire, instead wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. He tried not to stare for too long, but he never realized how fit Chan actually was, his arms now more visible than ever. 

“Hey, Chan!” Jisung greeted, “What brings you here today?”

“Hey, you three.” Chan greeted them all with a wave, then turning his attention to all the different flowers in the shop, “I’m looking for some flowers to decorate the cafe, do you have any in mind that are easy enough to care for?”

Jisung and Minho moved almost completely in unison, shoved Felix past the counter toward Chan, making him nearly fall forward flat on his face, “Hey! What-”

“Felix needs more training with customers.” Minho cut in, “Would you be alright with him helping you out today?”

“Of course!” Chan laughed, “I promise I won’t be a difficult customer.”

Felix quickly turned back towards the pair to beg for mercy, but they had both quickly scurried off into the back room, leaving him alone with the worst crush he’s ever had. He stayed quiet for a moment, letting Chan browse all the different potted flowers that the shop had to offer.

“I missed you today.” Chan broke the silence, the sudden statement nearly sending Felix into shock.

“W-what do you mean?” Felix turned away from Chan to go grab a watering can from behind the counter, he didn’t need to see how flustered he was. “You did?”

Chan giggled briefly, the dimples on his cheeks showing clear as day, “Of course, you visit my shop every single morning to order coffee and say hello to me. I almost felt bad that I wasn’t open today just to get your greeting.”

Felix froze behind the counter, hand hovering over the watering can. Was he hearing this right? Was he just saying this in a friendly way, or was he reading into it too much? How do you even react to something like that? He decided to play it safe for now, still not sure of what Chan really thought of him at all.

“Y-yeah…” Felix began, grabbing the watering can and wandering over to water a few flowers, “It felt odd not going to your cafe today, it felt like I was forgetting something. Not to mention that it’s hard to function without your coffee, the coffee these two make kinda sucks.”

Chan laughed again at the smart remark, and it was music to Felix’s ears, “I’ll be sure I have plenty of coffee ready for you tomorrow then.”

They continued chatting for a little while, jumping subjects between the cafe, the flower shop, and the actual flowers that Chan planned on purchasing for the shop. Chan moved a lot as he spoke, constantly fiddling with his clothing or pacing around, but Felix had his full attention on him. He couldn’t help it, after all, every little movement he made or word he spoke only made him fall harder for the black-haired boy. The way his eyes sparkled when he talked about the things he liked, it was mesmerizing. Too much so, actually, as Felix felt it was getting harder to ignore the urge to reach out and hold his hands.

“I think I’ll just take four of these for the shop.” Chan snapped Felix out of his lovestruck daze, pointing to some flowers on a lower shelf.

“O-oh, the spotted orchids?” Felix walked past him, beginning to collect the pots and take them to the counter.

Felix explained how to care for the flowers, and Chan listened intently, even writing small notes on his phone so that he wouldn’t forget. Felix had to muster all the strength in his body not to break under his soft gaze, barely able to make coherent sentences as he finished up the transaction at the counter. 

“Thanks again,” Chan picked up the pots carefully, trying his best not to drop them, “I promise I’ll take good care of them. And I’ll be sure to call you for help if they start dying on me.”

“Of course,” Felix nodded, dashing over to open the door, “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

Chan nodded back at him, “Of course.”

Felix sighed heavily, slumping forward as Chan finally left the building. He turned around to see that Jisung and Minho had already come out from the back room, smiling from ear to ear.

“Don’t even start.” Felix warned, lifting his palm.

“It’ll be a week tomorrow.” Jisung teased, “Has your ‘temporary crush’ on the cute cafe boy gone away yet?”

“I don’t...” Felix tried in one last ditch effort to save his dignity, but he just couldn’t lie about it anymore. His heart melted whenever he thought about him. His soft eyes, his gentle voice, his funny yet hard working attitude, it was always too much for Felix to handle. “Guys, I think I’m in love with him.”

Jisung screeched, in turn making Minho nearly jump out of his skin, “Sungie! Stop doing that!”

Jisung ignored him, running up to grab Felix by the shoulders, “Finally! I thought you were never going to admit it!” He started rambling about all the different things they could try, and places they could go to get Chan’s attention, but Felix quickly cut him off.

“Listen, I know you’re excited and want to help, but please,” Felix looked at the boy with pleading eyes, “Don’t mention a _thing_ when he’s around, okay?”

Minho nodded, “I have to agree with Felix. You’re way too loud, plus, Chan knows you too well. He’ll figure out that something’s up almost instantly.”

Jisung pouted, “You guys are no fun at all. But fine, I’ll stay behind the scenes.”

The other two let out a long sigh of relief, and then went off to clean up the shop for the day. Felix decided to retire to his room after work for the day, emotionally tired from the long day at work. Minho gave him a small plug-n-play game player for his TV to keep him entertained until he saved up enough cash to get himself a phone. He appreciated the gift, and sometimes Minho even stayed behind to play games with him. They were especially fond of a particular racing game, they were both equally skilled at it and it made for a good challenge.

He played for a while to try to forget about his major embarrassment from the day, but every time he tried, it just came back in full force. Eventually Felix opted to just go to sleep, closing his eyes as he heard the soft distant sound of crickets outside. He smiled to himself, for the first time in a long time, he felt truly happy to be somewhere. Happy to share company with the people around him. And no matter what happened with him and Chan in the future, he was more than happy to simply see his smiling face every day, and he hoped that Chan felt the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this new chapter! It took me so long to be satisfied with it but I think it's good now. ;v; Thank you for the kind support, it means a lot to me! I shall go now, so be safe, drink water, and eat a delicious snack~ Have a good day!


	7. Spring Rain

“A carnival?” Felix asked, shoving down the last piece of sushi from his plate.

“Yeah, we have one every year.” Hyunjin smiled, picking up the plates from the last customer sitting at the bar, “It’s actually pretty big, and a ton of fun. You should go!”

“I haven’t been to a carnival since I was a child.” Felix’s eyes shimmered in joy, thinking about all the games and rides. “I’ll definitely make time to go when it gets here.”

“For sure, after all, the whole town basically shuts down in order to go.” The blonde laughed, “It’s in two weeks, just don’t challenge me to any of the basketball games, I’ll beat you in an instant.”

Felix rolled his eyes and smiled, standing from his stool and placing his payment on the counter, “Whatever, we’ll just have to see about that when the time comes.”

Hyunjin let out a small giggle, taking the cash and nodding at Felix as he made his way out of the restaurant, “See ya later, freckles.”

“Later!” Felix waved, stepping out of the building only to see that it was pouring rain.  _ ‘Oh crap.’ _

Felix was off from the shop today, and he had already spent the morning at Chan’s cafe, then playing video games. He decided to eat at Hyunjin’s place for lunch, but it never crossed his mind that it would rain today. Felix tested the rain reaching his hand out from under the cover of the awning only to feel that the water was ice cold, and it didn’t look like it was going to slow down any time soon.

_ ‘Guess I’m getting soaked today.’  _ Felix huffed, pulling his hood over his head and holding his backpack close. He dashed down the road as quickly as he could without slipping, the cold water seeping through his jacket faster than he liked. 

He ran for a while, but stopped for a moment in the cover of the entrance to the library. The rain wasn’t letting up at all, and if he tried to make it all the way to Sunshine he was only going to get everything in his bag ruined. He zipped off his jacket, squeezing out the water as best he could before folding it up and placing it on top of his bag. 

_ ‘Guess I’ll check out the library.’  _ Felix sighed, grabbing his things and walking inside the automatic glass doors, shivering as the cold AC hit his wet skin. 

The library was fairly large, with a large array of shelves containing thousands of different, and desks scattered about with computers for the public to use. Off to the side was the help desk, where a boy sat unmoving, focused on a textbook he had in front of him. Next to him was another boy, sitting on the desk itself, quietly reading and judging the textbook over his shoulder. Felix recognized the latter as Jeongin. He had only really seen them in passing, but he knew he worked at Cafe ‘97 as a baker. He decided to leave them be for now, walking over to the shelves to look at the different books they had to offer. 

He hates to admit it, but it’s been quite a long time since he’s picked up a book. It’s not that he didn’t like them, he’s just never really found the time to be able to relax and read until recently. He scanned the shelves one by one, picking up a book here and there to read the summary before inevitably placing it back on the shelf. Eventually, he saw one book that caught his attention; A book on baking different kinds of sweets. He flipped through the pages, growing hungry again just looking at the pictures of the different cakes, cookies, and brownies.

_ ‘I wonder if Chan would like it if I baked for him?’  _ Felix thought to himself,  _ ‘Maybe he’s sick of sweets though? He sees them every day, after all.’ _

Nonetheless, Felix took the book and walked over to the counter where the two boys were still sitting. Upon his approach, Jeongin hopped off the counter, making room for Felix to place his book down. 

The boy at the counter had light brown hair, rounded cheeks and slim, focused eyes. He wore a lanyard with a large tag on the end that read ‘VOLUNTEER: Seungmin’. He smiled at Felix’s approach, quickly pushing his textbook aside. 

“Welcome to Crossroads’ Library,” He greeted, grabbing the cookbook from the desk to scan, “I haven’t seen you here before, do you need a library card?”

Felix nodded, “Yes please, thank you.”

Jeongin stared at Felix for a moment, as Seungmin dug under the desk for an empty card, “You’re Felix, right?”

Felix turned towards the boy, he must have just left work, because he was still wearing his uniform, apron and all, “Yeah, that’s me. You work at Cafe 97’ right?”

“Sure do.” Jeongin smiled, “We sure see you a lot over there.”

Felix laughed nervously, “Y-yeah… you guys have really good breakfast, what can I say?”

Seungmin handed Felix a blank card, “Here, sign your name on the back and I’ll scan it in for you.”

Felix did as he was told, but Jeongin kept talking as he wrote, “You come in pretty much every day. Chan talks about you all the time, always saying that you never stay long enough, always leaving in a hurry.”

Felix’s hand jolted, messing up the end of his signature as he handed it back to Seungmin. He stared up at Jeongin only to see that he was smirking at the freckled boy.

“You feeling okay?” the boy laughed, “You’re turning red.”

Felix stood up straight, turning his whole body towards him “You’re doing this on purpose aren’t you?”

Jeongin threw his arms up in defence, “I’m not doing anything! I’m just telling you what I’m seeing.”

Seungmin sighed, handing Felix his book and card, “Would you leave the poor guy alone? He’s obviously not having it with you.”

Jeongin pouted, sitting back up on the counter, “Aww, I don’t mean any harm, I’m just having fun watching this play out.”

Felix thanked Seungmin for his help, and turned to leave, but turned on his heels as a thought came to mind, “Wait, Jeongin. Watch what play out exactly?”

The boy didn’t speak, only flashing a big smile, and proceeding to take his hands and pretend to zip his lips.

Felix huffed, throwing the book in his bag before heading back outside. To his dismay, it was still pouring rain outside. 

_ ‘I can’t afford to get this book wet…’  _ Felix worried, his bag wasn’t exactly waterproof, but he wasn’t about to stay in the library and get pestered any more either.He put on his jacket and pulled up his hood, prepared to run another block before he was stopped by a voice calling out in the distance.

“Felix! There you are!” It was Chan, and he was walking up the sidewalk with a large umbrella over his head.

_ ‘Oh no. Not now.’  _ Felix lowered his hood, waiting for Chan to catch up to him before greeting him with a small wave, “Hey. Were you looking for me?”

“Yeah. Hyunjin called saying you were walking all the way to Sunshine in this rain without an umbrella.” Chan said, almost in a scolding tone, “I stopped at the shop to see if you were okay, but you never showed up, so I was looking to see if you were okay.”

“O-oh…” Felix looked at the ground, he was more dry than he was before, but his clothing was still pretty soaked, “I didn’t know it was going to rain today, so I didn’t bring an umbrella with me. I was waiting in the library to see if it would slow down, sorry for making you worry.”

Chan sighed heavily, and then just laughed, “You’re so silly, I swear. Let me at least walk you home, you’re drenched.”

Felix entered flight mode almost instantly,  _ ‘Sharing an umbrella?! Absolutely not! I’ll make a fool of myself instantly!’  _ Felix waved both his hands in front of him, “N-no it’s alright, I’m already soaked, a little more water on me won’t kill me.”

Chan tilted his head, “But you’re going in the same direction as me, and it’ll save you a lot of extra discomfort later.”

Felix sighed in defeat, there was no way he was getting out of this one. All he could really do was play it cool. “Alright, fine, you win.”

“Good!” Chan brightened up as he waited for Felix to gather his things, “We don’t need you getting sick now.”

They made their way down the street, and Felix tried his best not to overthink the situation. But sharing an umbrella, even a large one, seemed a little too romantic for Felix to relax. The rain fell heavily around them, and Felix enjoyed the sound of the water droplets hitting the ground. The sky was a dark grey, and Felix was grateful that he didn't have to run all the way home through it all. He had to huddle pretty close to Chan in order to stay completely out of the rain though, trying his absolute best not to touch him, even if he really wanted to. Chan was looking forward, humming to himself as they walked, and his hair was beginning to curl under the humidity in the air. Felix sneaked a glance at him when he could, and for a fraction of a second he swore he could see the tip of his ear turning pink. 

“So,” Chan broke the silence, still keeping his pace, “Did you hear about the carnival coming to town?”

Felix’s mood shifted instantly, the thought of all the rides and games at the upcoming carnival awakening his inner child, “Yes! I can’t wait for it. It’s been a long time since I've been able to go to something like that.”

“I’m sure.” Chan frowned for a second, then turned to look at Felix straight on, “I’m planning on going with a few friends, did you wanna come with us? You should know most of them, so it won’t be too awkward. And I'm sure Jisung and Minho will come along too.”

Felix was stunned. It wasn’t a date, but he’d be damned if it wasn’t the closest thing he was going to get right now. He tried to hide his blatant excitement, squeaking out a small, “Yes, I’d love to.” (It sounded more like yesi’dloveto)

“Perfect!” Chan perked back up as they arrived at the front of Sunshine, “We can work out the details when it gets closer, just ask Jisung and Minho if they wanna come too. I’m sure they’ll do it, they love the carnival.”

Felix nodded, and thanked Chan for walking him home. They exchanged a short and awkward stare before Chan waved him goodbye, continuing down the road and leaving Felix in front of the shop completely lovestruck. 

He fumbled getting the shop keys out of his bag, bolting inside the building and locking the door behind him before screeching in reaction to everything that just happened. He turned and laughed to see an incredibly startled Minho, unaware that anyone was still in the shop.

“Sorry,” Felix laughed, “It’s been a day.”

Minho held a hand to his chest, letting out a long breath and closing his eyes for a moment, “You’ve been around Jisung a little too long, I think. But what happened to make you so giddy?”

“Is Jisung still here?” Felix asked, unable to hide the wide, toothy grin across his face, “He’s gonna want to hear this one.”


	8. Warm Cookies and a Sweet Smile

“Good morning!” Felix greeted, skipping down the stairs to meet Minho and Jisung below, slowly moving along as they set up the shop for the day.

“Morning, Lixie!” Jisung shouted back, “You headed to Chan’s place again?” He smirked as he said it, elbowing him as he walked by.

“Yeah, I am.” Felix smiled, gently shoving the boy to the side, “Did you two want anything?”

“Nah, I’m alright today.” Jisung responded, sticking his tongue out at the boy.

“I’ll take the usual,” Minho spoke up from the front as he started to bundle flowers together, “Just order it iced this time so I don’t have to worry about you talking so long it gets cold.”

Felix rolled his eyes, making his way out of the shop and towards the cafe.

It was now one week until the carnival, and Felix was beyond excited for it to arrive. With each passing day, he watched as trailers brought the rides into town, setting them up in the field down by the park as the day got closer. Minho and Jisung didn’t help, hyping up the carnival and describing how fun it was to get him even more excited than ever. He was nervous about spending the whole night with Chan, but he would have other friends with him, and he’d enjoy just the opportunity to be near him again. The thought of seeing Chan smiling under all the neon lights, looking at Felix with those gentle eyes, it crept into the back of his mind. He could feel the butterflies gather in his stomach at the mere thought.

Jisung tried where he could to help him out when he got the chance, going out of his way to make sure Felix bought new clothing and shoes for the occasion. He tried his best to boost his confidence, and Felix could never fully tell him quite how much it meant to him. He and Minho had become extremely important to him, they were wonderful friends, and treated him like family.

Felix shook off his thoughts once he got to the cafe door, walking opening the door and waltzing in. Chan was in his usual spot behind the counter, but this time, Jeongin was with him. They seemed to be chatting, but Felix was still too far to hear the conversation. He had managed to avoid Jeongin so far for the past week, but it looked like it was inevitable today. As he approached the counter, he noticed Chan and Jeongin quickly switch to a whisper before completely ending the conversation at his arrival.

“H-Hello Felix.” Chan stammered, much to Felix’s surprise, “How are you today?”

“I’m good,” Felix responded, throwing a quick glance at Jeongin to see that he was occupying himself making a coffee, “Are you okay?”

Chan nodded quickly, answering before Felix finished asking the question, “Yes, yes, I’m alright. Just had a busy morning is all.”

Felix noted that Chan’s ears were beet red,  _ ‘What’s bothering him today? I haven’t done anything different… Unless…’ _

Felix placed his order, and Chan hurried off to make the drinks. Felix shot another glance at Jeongin, this time meeting eyes with the young baker. He simply smiled, shooting him a teasing wink before following after Chan. He wanted to yell at him to keep his mouth shut, but he feared that it would only make the awkward situation worse. He stood at the counter, forced to sit in silence as Jeongin continued talking to Chan in quiet whispers, receiving an occasional annoyed wave from the older baker. 

_ ‘Did Jeongin tell him about my crush on him?’  _ Felix worried,  _ ‘I knew he’d be uncomfortable around me if he knew…’ _

Chan turned back around with the coffees in hand, finill shooing off Jeongin as he walked back into the kitchen, “Sorry for the wait, I had a lot to talk about with Jeongin.”

Felix tried his best to hide his worry, pulling his wallet from his pocket, “It’s okay, Busy mornings can be hard.”

Chan nodded, his ears still bright red as he handed Felix his change, “Thanks. I’ll see you later, alright?”

Felix’s face fell,  _ ‘Guess there’s no small talk today.’  _ He took the drinks, thanked Chan, and headed for the door.

“Felix, wait a sec!”

Felix spinned on his heels, Chan was leaning on the counter, one hand flat on top and the other scratching the back of his head. His face was a deep red now, and Felix’s heart soared at the sight.

“You… You’re still coming to the carnival, right?” Chan asked, though it was almost too quiet for Felix to hear.

“Of course!” Felix responded, confused by the odd question, “Why wouldn’t I?”

Chan stood back, looking to the side and clearing his throat, “I’m not sure, just making sure you’re not gonna disappear on me next week is all. Sorry for asking. I’ll see you later, Lix.”

Felix didn’t even get a chance to respond before Chan scurried off into the back room. He wasn’t sure what this feeling was in his stomach anymore; The mixture of love and incredible nervousness was beginning to make him feel dizzy. He headed out for now, making his way back toward Sunshine to begin work for the day.

_ ‘What if he knows?’  _ Felix worried again,  _ ‘Even if he doesn’t know now, how will he act when he finds out? Will he even talk to me anymore?’  _ Felix’s face fell, the thought of Chan hating him wasn’t one he wanted to imagine. He loved seeing him every morning, and he wasn’t prepared to just give it up. His thoughts began to make him more nervous as he walked, overthinking all of Chan’s actions from the morning. His thoughts were only interrupted as he spotted a man at the storefront of Sunshine, squatted on the ground, observing a pot of daffodils.

The man was fairly short, but solidly built, with tattoos lining both of his arms. He wore simple black clothing and had short, dark blue hair. He didn’t seem to notice Felix’s approach, much more focused on the flowers in front of him.

“Did you need any help?” Felix asked, not fully in uniform yet, but feeling the need to ask nonetheless.

The man stood up, surprised at the sudden question, “O-oh, no, I’m sorry. I was distracted by these flowers for a second.” his voice trailed off, feeling slightly embarrassed for getting caught, “They’re beautiful, I’d love to draw them.”

“You draw?” Felix asked, tilting his head slightly. He couldn’t explain it, but despite his intimidating appearance, he was super cute. The way he got nervous when he got caught doing something as simple as looking at flowers was adorable, in Felix’s eyes.

The man scratched the back of his neck for a moment, “Sort of. I’m a tattoo artist, I work at the parlor just up the road.” He dusted the dirt off his jeans, “Sorry for bugging you, I’ll be on my way now.” He tried to scurry off, but quickly came to a halt as Jisung busted out of the front door.

“Changbin!” he yelled, a large frown on his face, “Where the hell have you been?!”

He ran his hand through his hair and looked toward the ground, “I’ve had a lot of work, that’s all. Sorry I haven’t visited in a while…”

“A while?!” Jisung continued, “You always get so caught into your work that you never get out to relax or say hello to us anymore! Chan was beginning to think you were living in that parlor now!”

Changbin just sighed, putting both hands on his hips, “Listen, I'm sorry. I’ll make it up to you guys, somehow.”

Felix stepped in, “Hey, I don’t really know you, but if you’re friends with Jisung then you’re friends with me. Are you going to the carnival next week?”

Changbin thought for a moment, “There's a carnival next week?”

Felix and Jisung both slumped forward and sighed, the latter speaking up, “Dude, I’m serious, get out more.”

* * *

  
  


“Alright, alright,” Changbin lifted up his palms in defense, “I’ll go. I’ll make sure I don’t have any appointments that day.”

The boys cheered, Minho now joining them and sipping his coffee. Felix didn’t mind bringing another person along, especially after the scare he had this morning. It was for the best that they went in a large group.

“Well, Felix, it was nice to meet you.” Changbin smiled, grasping Felix’s hand in a firm handshake, “I hope we can talk more later.”

Felix returned the smile, “Me too.”

Changbin waved them all goodbye, leaving the three boys to go back inside and continue their work. The day went smooth, and Felix decided not to bring up the events that had occurred that morning at the cafe. He tried his best to simply not think about it, focusing his attention to the flowers. Watering, trimming, arranging, the process was tedious, but calming. It distracted him for the whole day, surprising him when he saw Minho locking the door for the afternoon.

“Closing time already?” Felix asked, standing from his stool.

“Yep, and I have to hurry home and feed the cats.” Minho checked the time on his phone to confirm, “Jisung’s gonna stay here for a while still, he’s taking inventory in the back.”

Felix nodded, bidding him farewell and removing his apron to hang on the wall before heading up the stairs to his room. He hurries over to his small kitchen and pulls out some ingredients from his cupboards. He’s been spending most of his afternoons practicing baking, trying to get his cookies just right. At first he was following the cookbook he borrowed from the library, but he kept altering it, trying to make the perfect cookie for Chan to taste.

He turned on the radio, turning the volume nearly all the way up before beginning to work on his cookies. He danced around his room as he worked, trying his best to keep positivity in his mind as he mixed the bowl of ingredients. Chan had mentioned offhand that chocolate chip cookies were his favorite, and Felix wanted them to be perfect before he tried them. He gently rolled out small spheres of dough in his hands, placing it on the baking sheet next to him. 

The evening sun was glaring through his window, leaving bright orange streaks across his white wooden floor as he worked. He continued to tap his feet to the rhythm to the beat of the music as he opened his oven, sliding the tray of cookies inside. The song picked up, and Felix sang along loudly as he washed his dishes. By the time he was done, the whole room began to smell like cookies, and he was about to crash on his bed until he heard a knock on his door.

“Jisung? Is that you?” Felix walked towards the door, “Sorry if my music is bothering you.” Felix opened the door, nearly fainting in panic to see that it wasn’t Jisung, but Chan at the door. “C-Chan?! What are you doing here?”

Chan looked to the side for a few moments, before finally looking up at Felix, “Jisung let me in. I just wanted to apologize for acting weird earlier.”

Felix stepped back, leaving room for Chan to walk in before shutting the door behind him, “Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong! Everyone has off days.” Felix tried his best to hide his worries, but the only thing really going through his head was,  _ ‘Oh god, Chan is in my room.’ _

Chan laughs, “It’d be too hard for me to explain I think. Just know that I didn’t mean to cause you any worry, if I ever did in the first place.”

Felix sighed,  _ ‘You did cause me worry, but not in the way I think you mean.’  _ He thought to himself. Instead he just responded, “No worries! Did you want to talk about it?”

Chan shook his head, “No, it’s alright, I’ve heard what I needed to hear.” Then he lifted his head slightly, sniffing the air, “Are you baking?”

Felix’s eyes widened, “Oh, yeah, I am. I’m making chocolate chip cookies.”

Chan’s eyes lit up instantly, sparkling in the golden hour lighting as the sun began to set, “Chocolate chip? You know those are my favorite!” Chan pouted, dashing over to the oven to look at the cookies through the glass.

“You’re more than welcome to have some when they're ready.” Felix laughed, he wasn’t planning on giving Chan any so soon, but he looked far too excited to turn him down.

“Really?!” Chan hopped in place excitedly, “Thanks so much!”

They both stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do until the cookies were done. Felix was thankful his room was fairly clean today, because he wouldn’t know how to react if Chan walked into a messy room. He slowly wandered to his bed, sitting cross-legged as Chan wandered around, looking at all the small knick knacks Felix had collected during his stay in the town so far.

“Your room is so cute.” Chan spoke, nearly in a whisper as he trailed his hand over a bookshelf with a few different mangas stacked on the shelf.

Felix blushed, turning to look out the window instead, “T-thanks, I think.”

Chan laughed, “I’m not making fun of you! It’s genuinely super cute. It’s very,  _ you _ .”

Felix could feel his face burning up, silently thanking the setting sun for hiding the red on his cheeks, “Thank you…” Suddenly, his timer on the stove began to chime, and he quickly hopped off his bed, “Ah, the cookies!”

* * *

The two of them sat together on the edge of Felix’s bed, happily munching on the soft, warm cookies. Chan was smiling from ear to ear between every bite, happily swaying back and forth to the radio still playing in the background. 

“Lix, these are amazing!” Chan chimed between bites, “Why didn’t I just hire you at my place instead?”

“Thank you.” Felix replied, slowly munching on his own cookie, “I’m not really good at baking, I’ve just been working on this one recipe for a while.”

Chan wiped off his hands, then fell back onto the mattress with his hands crossed over his stomach, “You did amazing, and I hope you know I’m going to be begging you to make those all the time for me.”

Felix tried his best not to look too happy at the idea, but that was his end goal after all, “I’ll be happy to make them for you again sometime if you like them that much.”

Chan hummed as a reply, closing his eyes as he spoke, “I’m glad you decided to stay here.”

“I am too…” Felix shifted, taking the risk to lie back as well. He was still a solid distance from Chan, but still close enough to make his heart jump as Chan turned to face him, resting his head on his hand.

“You’re always coming to say hi to me, and you three here at the shop spend enough money there to keep me running forever.” Chan laughed, “Plus, you gave me cookies. Nobody ever gives a baker cookies.”

Felix smiled, it was nice to hear the compliments, but it was too much to bear coming from him, especially when he was this close. His hair was curling up after the long day at work, his eyes reflected the night sky, and his lips looked far too kissable for their own good. Felix flushed at the thought, forgetting where he was for a moment before realizing that Chan had gotten closer.

He was sitting up now, but sitting close enough to Felix for his arm to graze against his. “Maybe I should go, it’s getting late.”

Felix sat up too, nearly shoulder to shoulder with the fair skinned boy, “Oh, alright. It was good to talk to you like this.”

“Yeah, I agree.” Chan nodded, his voice cutting off as he looked Felix in the eyes. They just stared for a brief moment, but for Felix, it felt like a century. Chan opened his mouth for a moment, as if he was about to speak, but quickly shut his mouth and stood up, his ears beginning to turn red once again. “Y-yeah, I’d better go. You usually have to wake up early to help open the shop, right? I’d hate to ruin your sleep.”

Felix stood up too, trying to ignore the tension that had grown in the room, “O-of course,” He stuttered, “Do you want me to walk you out?”

Chan made his way to the door, “No, it’s alright! Jisung lent me a key when I first came in, so I can lock it up for you. I’ll see you tomorrow, Lix!”

“See you!” Felix barely managed to get the words out as Chan hurried out the door. Felix simply stood in the center of his room, replaying everything that just happened through his head over and over.

_ ‘Well.’  _ Felix walked over to his bed again, flopping face first onto the soft sheets,  _ ‘I’m not going to get any sleep tonight.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, I managed to finish this chapter today :0 I hope you all enjoyed this update! The next one is gonna be a little different, so look forward to it! (Also, all this writing about cookies and coffee had made me crave them both so badly ;__;)


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